what am I doing wrong

davidpearly
davidpearly Posts: 177 Member
in Motivation and Support
Ok well I have been at this change in life style for about a month now. I started right after Christmas. I avoid fast food, soda, and sweets. I go to the gym 5 days a week and watch what I eat. I understand I didn't put it on over night and it will not come off over night, but when I get on the scale and it says I have gained weight, I just don't get it and feel like what I am doing is not working. I did go out to eat a couple times this weekend but selected my foods carefully and tried to make healthy decisions, and Maintained my calories.
my gym work consist of
MWF-15 min cardio, 30 min planet fitness circuit, abs, 20 min cardio
T,TH- 50-60 min cardio

I am eating between 1700-2100 calories a day and try to eat back my exercise calories.

I am 5'11", 294 lbs. and need to drop this weight

I am not seeing any results in waist size or scale weight, so I don't know what I am doing wrong here

I only weigh on Mondays after rest on sat and sun
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Replies

  • envy09
    envy09 Posts: 353 Member
    I would look up the sodium content of the foods you ate this weekend. After I eat out, I always "gain" five or so pounds just because fast food is high in sodium.

    Edit: Sodium makes you retain water, thus increasing the number on the scale arbitrarily.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
    you haven't lost any weight yet at all since christmas?
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    Its what you eat not how much.

    read forks over knives bud. I opened my eyes.

    I was over 320 and am same height. Am now at 270 in less than a year.

    Friend me and you can see my food logs to see how i eat.
  • Scarlettbird50
    Scarlettbird50 Posts: 45 Member
    maybe its portion sizes?
  • jonilynn70
    jonilynn70 Posts: 145 Member
    I agree with the sodium. Even in the healthiest choices restaurants add to flavor. A grilled salad I get on a regular basis has OVER a half of a day's sodium in it in one small salad. I believe all restaurants do this. And lunch meat too - when you feel you are getting a healthy sandwich at Subway instead of an unhealthy Big Mac at McDonalds, the sodium count is so high at Subway you will retain weight. And for me, it takes upwards of a week for it to go back down. Make sure you are tracking sodium in your tracker. Very discouraging but if you keep that in mind, it hopefully won't derail you. Good luck!
  • emma_louise_23
    emma_louise_23 Posts: 25
    Maybe ur gaining muscle??? try not eating ur calories back see if this helps maybe...good luck :smile:
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
    1700-2100 calories seems very low for a tall man with a lot of weight to lose. I've known big men to eat probably 1000 more than this and still lose weight. Go to the "in place of a road map" thread and use those instructions to calculate your ideal calorie intake to lose weight at a healthy rate.

    Also, you need to ensure you track and measure all your calories accurately. Your numbers don't add up, if you were actually eating 1700-2100 calories you'd be seeing big drops in scale weight initially. Are you eyeballing/guestimating your measurements? If your measurements for food are over even by not that much, it can kill your deficit and people can be eating about a 1000 more calories a day than they think they are because of this.

    Weighing food is the most accurate way, because a gram is a gram, an ounce is an ounce and so long as you're using reliable data for how many calories per gram or ounce there is in the food, it is accurate. Volume measurements are less accurate, because a cup measurement can vary and it's easy to overfill them or pack more food into the same volume by squashing it, etc, which means a cup measured by one person weighs more than a cup measured by someone else. Eyeballing/guestimating portion sizes is even less accurate, people tend to underestimate how much of any food they're eating, and so will be consuming quite a few more calories than they think they are. Personally, I found a kitchen scale to be a very worthwhile investment. It doesn't even have to be tricky or cumbersome: put the plate on the scale, zero it, then weigh each food item you put on the plate, zeroing it again between each one. Then log it directly onto MFP if you have the phone app, or write it down to log later on a laptop.
  • FitzyFitzpatrick
    FitzyFitzpatrick Posts: 188 Member
    Don't forget that building muscle requires water retention. Develop good habits, the results will come.
  • davidpearly
    davidpearly Posts: 177 Member
    you haven't lost any weight yet at all since christmas?


    I had lost 4 lbs but today it said I had gained 2 back
  • ldwash405
    ldwash405 Posts: 23 Member
    You could possibly be building muscle instead of burning fat. Muscle weighs more so it's not going to show that you have lost weight on the scale. The same thing has happened to me before. If your clothes are feeling a little loose then you're doing something right. Don't stress, it takes time to see results.
  • olsondre
    olsondre Posts: 198 Member
    Interesting. If you really are eating that low, you aren't building muscle. I think you should be eating more even at your current size and with doing cardio like that. I see in your diary a lot of quick add calories. Are you sure those are accurate?
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    you haven't lost any weight yet at all since christmas?


    I had lost 4 lbs but today it said I had gained 2 back
    It is most likely sodium if you ate out over the weekend.. try to avoid pre-packed/canned foods like soup and frozen meals (Lean Cusines) they are VERY high in sodium and will cause you to "gain weight" for a few days. Also, as someone else said, you may be gaining muscle if you are working out that much.
    Where did you get your calorie range from? Did MFP say that's how much you should be eating?
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Are you sure you're logging accurately? You might be under-estimating your intake. We're all prone to doing that to some degree.

    Also, don't worry about fluctuations. Your weight will always fluctuate up or down.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    I see in your diary a lot of quick add calories. Are you sure those are accurate?

    I agree, what's up with all of the quick add calories? If you are estimating something, chances are you are underestimating or overestimating those calories - try entering the actual foods you are eating, so you can see the REAL calories, most likely it is different than your estimates.
    Also, you said you eat back your exercise calories, but how are you calculating them? Do you have a HRM? Any other way isn't 100% accurate.
  • triinityz
    triinityz Posts: 146 Member
    I'm 5'7" and eat that much daily, I agree, go check out in place of a roadmap. I don't think you are eating enough.
  • lefleri
    lefleri Posts: 9 Member
    ^ What everyone else has said so far: building muscle, muscle weighing more than fat, sodium + water retention, etc.

    The first month is the hardest, at least it was for me. I didn't start seeing anything noticeable until the 2nd month when my body was adjusting to the shellshock of exercise and eating.

    I recommend using a Bodyfat Analyzer and taping yourself more often, at least you'll get an idea if you're building muscle or not.
  • ArwenP
    ArwenP Posts: 53 Member
    You might want to have your resting metabolic weight tested; that’s the number of calories your body burns at rest if you do nothing but sit around. I found out mine was just over 1300 calories/day, so if I don’t work out, I have to eat less than that to lose anything. So I set my goal at 1200, and if I exercise, I eat the exercise calories too (motivation for me to work out so I can eat more!). If you have a slow metabolism, you may need to have a lower calorie count as your base.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    I just looked at your diary again - you ate 15 bean soup, french fries, grilled cheese and taco bell yesterday - I guarantee all of that is LOADED with sodium. I'm surprised you aren't 10 pounds more on the scale this morning.

    I know if I eat 2 Tbsp of hot sauce the night before a weigh in, it has a huge effect on my number because it causes major water retention due to the sodium for me.
  • MrsC160
    MrsC160 Posts: 85 Member
    I never weigh on Mondays. I always "gain" a few lbs due to sodium from weekend goodies.

    Try weighing on Wednesdays - I find I have flushed the sodium from my system and get a better idea of where I am at.
  • davidpearly
    davidpearly Posts: 177 Member
    I see in your diary a lot of quick add calories. Are you sure those are accurate?

    I agree, what's up with all of the quick add calories? If you are estimating something, chances are you are underestimating or overestimating those calories - try entering the actual foods you are eating, so you can see the REAL calories, most likely it is different than your estimates.
    Also, you said you eat back your exercise calories, but how are you calculating them? Do you have a HRM? Any other way isn't 100% accurate.

    the quick adds are calculated calories from foods that are not listed in the MFP data base. I do not currently have a HRM I use the gym machines for my cardio calculations and what MFP says for my circuit exercises.

    Yes yesterday was a bad day and it wont be happening again for a long time

    I got my caloric goal from mfp
  • alifer
    alifer Posts: 387 Member
    I don't see any water logged in your diary. Are you drinking water? If not start drinking water it will help flush out sodium, and release some water weight.
  • carlosb1003951
    carlosb1003951 Posts: 1 Member
    keep doing what your doing, everything is fine. watch your carbs and fats, eat more snacks during the day and keep at it. it takes time slowly but surely. dont just look at the calories look at the whole thing. good luck and keep hitting the gym and working out because without that you wont see quick results.
  • jtdegas
    jtdegas Posts: 3
    It could be a combination of many things. Reading the thread below many of things mentioned are great. If I were you I would focus on these couple of things.

    I would reduce calories to about 1500. However make sure you add them back in if you are losing from working out. It's simple math.

    Reduce sodium intake and increase water consumption.

    Replace some carbs with more proteins or get carbs from more fruits and veggies. Try to stay away from white flour.

    Make a pact to stay away from fast food all together. It will help tremendously.

    Don't eat anything 2-3 hours before you go to bed.

    Eat 5-6 little meals throughout the day instead of 1-2 big ones.

    Measure your food, don't eyeball it. You will be shocked on what actually is 4oz of meat, or a half cup of rice looks like.

    Most of all be patient ... Everyone is different. Your body needs some time to rebuild itself. Don't quit!!

    GOOD LUCK!!
  • jtdegas
    jtdegas Posts: 3
    Great advice.
  • jtdegas
    jtdegas Posts: 3
    Great ideas!
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    Go here and read all the topics with the red pins. Very useful info. If you still have question, join the group. They can help.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    When eating at a restaurant the plate will be like twice as much as a "serving" for everything. So unless you are weighing the portions at the table or getting the calorie counts directly from that place's menu/website about that specific dish, it's possible you're way underestimating what you've eaten for those meals. I'm 190 and do about the same amount of exercise and eat 2000 cals a day and I'm losing a pound a week the last few weeks.

    As others mentioned, retaining water and/or adding muscle can hide your progress in the short term.

    You might also consider replacing some of your cardio with strength training. Lifting heavy things doesn't take as long, and can keep you from losing too much muscle. :) (I'm doing Strong Lifts 5X5.)
  • lsand
    lsand Posts: 78 Member
    I don't think you're eating enough calories for your activity level. Try adding more lean protein and vegetables.
  • tndejong
    tndejong Posts: 463
    im not an expert by far. but my guess would be that you may need to leave a greater calorie deficit. i just started january 1st and started at 260 pounds. i eat about 1500 calories a day and 1 hour or more of exercise a day on my elliptical and have seen results. i have lost 20 pounds so far doing this. i think it depends how quickly you want results. the more work you put into it and can be disciplined in your eating, your going to see more of a drastic loss. if your ok with just a pound here and there you need to adjust accordingly.

    also to be sure your eating more often and protein with every meal.
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
    You've got some good advice and some bad in this thread. It's up to you to sift out what you can use and what works for you.

    You lost 4 lbs in less than a month. Then you were up 2 lbs probably due to water weight because of poor eating over a couple days. 2lbs is 7000 calories? Did you mis estimate your calories by 7000 since your last weigh in? I doubt it so it's more than likely to be water weight. It's not muscle, you can't build muscle on a calorie deficit. One pound loss a week is pretty good, many will tell you that's great.

    For the amount of working out your doing I would guess your eating near the right amount. So don't drop your intake yet. If your not weighing and measuring start there. It's difficult to adjust anything if your not keeping accurate track. Try to stay away from quick add. It makes it difficult for you to go back and see where you might have gone wrong or what to change. You won't have to weigh and measure for ever. It was a pretty eye opening experience for me when I started to measure and weight things. Now a couple months later I'm much better at eyeballing things but still weigh and measure most of the time.

    If your not losing fast enough for your goals, though 1 lb a week is great progress, I would suggest stay away from processed foods which includes nearly all fast food. Restaurants are in the business of selling food that tastes good, otherwise you won't come back. Even their so called healthy choices aren't necessarily healthy. Eat as much fruits, veggies, and lean meats in place of processed things that you can. Do not drink your calories, no alcohol, no soda, cut back or eliminate sweets. Take more time to eat, chew thoroughly and savor each bite. This make give you the feeling of being full while eating less. After about a month of healthy choices for me I started to appreciate food more and things started to taste better. I'm trying lots of new and different things. I went from being a lifelong hater of vegetables to baking broccoli for a late night snack instead of having a bowl of ice cream.

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